The Man Who Wasn't There

The Coen Brothers have been accused in the past of displaying masterful technique in filmmaking but no heart. The Man Who Wasn't There feels like the Coen Brothers took that criticism as a challenge to double down, making a film that successfully achieves the 50s stylings with panache, coming off as a mix between the noir genre trappings of Double Indemnity (1944), the heady existentialism of The Stranger (1946), and the domestic perversion of Lolita (1962) with just a sprinkling of the Twilight Zone. But the movie is built around one of the most stoic, distant protagonists in all of cinema. I have to admit, it's not one of my favourite Coen Brothers movies, but that is by no means a knock when their filmography includes some of the best movie made over the last 30 years.

Billy Bob Thornton is perfect as barber Ed Crane, his creased face is ideal for catching the shadowsof the noir pallette and his flat Southern drawl lends a certain no-bullshit directness to both his character and the narration of the film. Everything is matter of fact.

Filling out the rest of the ensemble are a young Scarlett Johansson, Coen regulars Frances McDormand and Jon Polito as well as other great character actors, James Gandolfino, Tony Shalhoub, Shooter McGavin and group favourite, Richard Jenkins (the old man from Bone Tomahawk).

The plot is deceivingly simple but rich in theme:- a man who by chance escapes justice for a murder he committed is eventually convicted for a murder he didn't. In a sense things come full circle like the hubcap rolling away from the crashed car. Whilst there is a certain karmic balance here, none of the characters in the film (except maybe for Ed who barely even exists in the world) can make sense of things. To them it is chaos and makes their heads hurt to think about it. Things are uncertain - the more they look the less they know (It was Werner btw, not Fritz). The appearance of the spaceship near the end of the movie helps add to the uncertainty and absurdity of it all (and also massively inspired Season 2 of Fargo).

What have we just seen? How can we make sense of it all? What does it mean? These are questions explored across the Coen Bros filmography, whether it be Larry Gopnik literally searching for meaning in A Serious Man, the audience searching for meaning in the brutal ending of No Country For Old Men or the meaninglessness of the wild goose chase that is the plot of Burn After Reading. This might be getting a bit deep but these are existentialist or absurdist films, exploring the meaninglessness of it all. Their plots are often cyclical with things kind of ending up where they began and if you look closely you will see circles across all of their films.

Roger Deakin's high contrast monochrome cinematography and is stylishly achieved with hard shadows and a framing of the film that adds to the claustrophobia of the domestic trappings and only closes in toward the film's end as justice catches up with Ed. The relief from the oppressing shadows comes momentarily at first from the UFOs spotlight and then finally, ironically enough, in the white room of Ed's execution.

The score, largely Beethoven Sonatas, offers a subtle elegance and more relief to the film's otherwise oppressive nature. The music is personified in the film by Scarlett Johansson's character Birdie, who despite Ed's claims is no piano prodigy. Her musical talent is presented through Ed's eyes, almost as a way of justifying his Nabakovian attraction to her.

Perhaps highest among the Coen brothers' talents is their ability with dialogue and witty lines. Even here, with such a quiet protagonist there are some belters and some excellent interplay between characters:

"He told them to look not at the facts but at the meaning of the facts. Then he told them the facts have no meaning."

"Now maybe if you're 11 or 12 years old, Frank's got an interesting point of view. But sometimes he got on my nerves"

Crane: "Was that a pass?"

Tolliver: "Maybe."

Crane: "Well you're out of line mister, way out of line"

"No talking out of school. What's out of school? Everything's out of school. I do the talking. You keep your trap shut. I'm an attorney. You're a barber. You don't know anything."

What does it all mean? Well the answer with these guys is normally nothing. But, as Albert Camus proposed, that can be just as much fun.

Yes, this is lower tier Coen Bros but I still love it.

3.5 random UFOs out of 5

You've probably guessed by now that I'm a big fan of the Coen Brothers. I think along with Paul Thomas Anderson, they are the greatest living filmmakers, miles ahead of Tarantino (for me, at least). Every film they make is a different genre and I would say they have only ever made 2 bad movies. I'm sure most of you have heard of the Coen Brothers and probably seen a good few of their movies, but for those who might have a few omissions let me leave you with my personal Coen Brothers ranking.

1. Raising Arizona

2. Miller's Crossing

3. Inside Llewyn Davis

4. The Big Lebowski

5. Fargo

6. The Hudsucker Proxy

7. No Country For Old Men

8. Burn After Reading

9. A Serious Man

10. O Brother, Where art thou

11. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

12. Barton Fink

13. Blood Simple

14. True Grit

15. The Man Who Wasn't There

16. Hail Caesar

17. The Ladykillers

18. Intolerable Cruelty

I'd recommend all but the last two.